South Island employers have reported the highest level of confidence across New Zealand, with a net 26.1% of employers indicating an intention to increase their permanent staff levels in the months ended June.
A Hudson survey showed that employers in the professional services industry were the most optimistic, with a net 46.6% of employers indicating an intention to increase their permanent staff in the coming three months.
Hudson South Island manager Ged Clink told the Otago Daily Times that staff freezes and restructuring now appeared to be over, with the focus now turning to recruitment planning as demand from clients began to return.
However, the majority of employers surveyed for Hudson were in the central South Island region, mainly Canterbury, with a few in the north of the South Island and a few in the South.
Mr Clink said he would like to think that the trends of the survey were mirrored across all parts of the South Island.
The manufacturing sector had built on the large increase in confidence seen in the last quarter with a further rise of 1.9%.
Sentiment was now reasonably strong after having been negative for the first three quarters of 2009.
"Production closures and lay offs now appear to have ceased and manufacturing companies are looking forward to positive times returning."
A net 27.3% of employers in property and construction indicated an intention to increase their permanent staff levels in the next three months. The result was an improvement from the last quarter when sentiment fell back into negative territory after a strong rise previously, Mr Clink said.
Sentiment remained volatile as real estate agents and property developers had their hopes raised and dashed with the release of each new market indicator or forecast.
Employers in the transport industry reported a 14.5% increase in sentiment. Confidence in the industry was "relatively strong" after having dropped to zero in the past quarter.
Employers in the accounting and financial services industry were more cautious, with many tempering their optimism from earlier in the year with an expectation that a recovery would take longer to unfold than previously thought, he said.
Demand for staff in the banking sector was expected to remain slow and steady.
